Transfer
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: M-21 glanced down at the pile of clothes in Frankenstein's hands before looking up at him. "This is your uniform for tomorrow."


**Summary**: M-21 glanced down at the pile of clothes in Frankenstein's hands before looking up at him. "This is your uniform for tomorrow."

Set after season 1.

Thanks to everyone who listened to me screech over that One Scene lkj;faldf.

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><p><strong>Transfer<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>M-21 glanced down at the pile of neatly folded clothes in Frankenstein's hands before looking up at him. M-21 hadn't asked for or needed new clothes, so why was Frankenstein giving him more?<p>

"This is your uniform for tomorrow."

Oh. Right. M-21 took the clothes from Frankenstein and then eyed the thin strip of black lying on top of the shirt.

"Ah, do you know how to put it on?"

A test…? He had seen more than enough scientists wearing a tie - but he'd never seen one put it on.

M-21 shook his head, watching Frankenstein's reaction through his hair.

He didn't _seem_ to mind, nodding. "I could show you one way of doing it - there are others, but they're not as simple."

"Fine," M-21 said, watching Frankenstein pick up the sliver of silk. He had to wear it, and doing otherwise would draw attention.

Frankenstein draped the tie over his own shoulders, and started moving his hands. With every flick of his wrists, he described exactly what he was doing.

It was...different from what M-21 was used to - he was usually given an order to do something without checking if he or M-24 (his gut twisted and he shoved the feeling away) knew how to do it. Their first couple of missions had been a panic of trial and throat-stopping error. They had to learn fast or die.

"Do you want me to do it again?"

M-21 gazed at him, his lips pursed. Frankenstein was willing to repeat what he'd done, not expecting him to have it memorised after seeing it once?

"No, I remember." Better not push it. He still hadn't found where all the boundaries were yet.

Frankenstein nodded, loosening the tie but not undoing it, slipping it off his head, placing it on top of the pile.

"If you wanted to see how the tie fits together." He smiled, taking a step back. "If you're unsure, feel free to come back to me and I'll be happy to show you again."

"Yeah, whatever," M-21 said, walking away to put the clothes in his room.

xOx

The next morning, M-21 bared his teeth at the feel of the collar pressed up against his neck. Fuck, the clothes fit too well. It was like when he'd been strapped down to a table, just without the bite of metal.

And he'd done this to himself.

He glowered at his reflection in the mirror, looking himself over. It wasn't that different from what he'd worn in the Union, but it was mostly the shoulders that felt tighter, restricting his movements.

Dealing with children in the uniform shouldn't take too much, but if he needed to fight... If the Union found him...

He would wear the fucking thing if it lessened the chance of drawing attention to himself, then he wouldn't need to fight in the first place.

xOx

Growling under his breath, M-21 tore the tie off as soon as his room door closed behind him, ripping a couple of buttons off at the same time, flinging the tie away.

No. He wasn't - _no_.

He could wear the tie with the buttons all neatly done up but it felt like a fucking collar and leash around his neck, like he was tamed and _owned_. He didn't give a fuck about drawing attention anymore if it made him feel like _that_. Not if he had to wear the fucking thing for hours at a time.

The jacket he dropped over the back of a chair and he changed out of the clothing. Once he was in something more casual, something without anything near his neck, he left the room, not bothering to pick the tie off the floor.

xOx

The next day, M-21 didn't put the tie on or do up the top buttons (because he hadn't found them, but the end result would have been the same anyway) and when he entered the living room, he saw Frankenstein and his master there already.

He saw Frankenstein's glance down before his gaze rose again, his regular smile on his face. "Good morning, M-21. Are you going to have breakfast?"

No reprimand? They weren't even going to say anything? "No..." he said, heading for the door. "I'll eat later."

It would be better if he lessened the amount of time he spent around them, so not to give them more chances to get pissed off at him.

For the rest of the day, M-21 expected to be called to Frankenstein's office and forced to wear a tie. It didn't happen.

He heard a couple whispered comments from staff members as he passed though, not anything close to what he'd been used to at the Union with no threat of his death. And it was the same shit he'd already heard before, nothing new added to their speculation.

He ignored them like he'd already been doing.

xOx

It _had_ been good to know that even with how well the suit fit, he could still kick as high as he wanted, and despite his misgivings earlier, when he's brought the bodyguard to his knees, his arm movements hadn't been hindered either.

xOx

M-21 stared at the tie lying on top of his dresser; he'd eventually placed it there after almost tripping over it.

It had been a few days since he'd stopped wearing it, or his top button up, but...

He pursed his lips. The rumours about him were escalating, getting wilder. It didn't bother him personally –none of them were anywhere close to the truth- but… It was still causing a stir, bringing more attention to him than he wanted.

If the Union cared to look, it would be easier to find the guy who had appeared out of nowhere after the lab had been wrecked if the staff didn't shut up about him.

Taking in a breath, M-21 picked up the tie. Frankenstein had given him new clothes so he would have spare ones when the others were in the wash, his current shirt having all its buttons. He did up all the buttons, the tie dangling in his grasp.

He grimaced at the feel of it there, but it wasn't _as_ bad as it had been before (probably because the collar was softer). Staring at his reflection in the mirror, M-21 put the tie around his shoulders and started to emulate Frankenstein's directions. He was slower, but the knot_was_ easy to do and a little while later, the knot was tied and up against the collar.

Breathing wasn't difficult, but every breath made him aware of what was around his neck. It was bearable, at least. For now.

A frown tugged his lips when he went downstairs. M-21 had gotten used to seeing Frankenstein and his master up before him and he didn't miss Frankenstein's eyebrows jerking up at the sight of him.

"Ah, morning, M-21." A pause. "You don't have to wear the top button if you don't wish to," Frankenstein added, his voice a shade lower.

…He didn't? "It's part of the dress code," M-21 said, eyeing him. What was Frankenstein trying to say?

Frankenstein chuckled. "It won't be as obvious with the tie there."

No, it wouldn't. He hesitated, checking both Frankenstein and his master's expressions, but they didn't seem to be observing him more or less than they usually did. It wasn't a test either - they would have done something earlier already.

M-21 raised his hands and undid the top button, loosening the knot at the same time. Not feeling the collar pressed so soundly against his skin eased the tightness in his chest, making it easier to breathe.

"Will you be having breakfast this morning?" Frankenstein asked, smiling.

"…Yeah." He didn't see anything wrong with that.

xOx

"Hey, M!"

M-21 turned at the call, still getting used to the nickname Tao had given him.

It was Takeo and Tao, Tao waving a black strip of something in the air.

For a second, he thought it was one of Tao's cables, but it was too floppy, too shiny, so it wasn't...

Oh, of course.

It was a tie.

"Do you know how to put one of these on?" Tao asked, winding it loosely around his knuckles, leaving a bit of a tail free. "I've looked it up, but it's easier to learn in person, you know?"

Yeah, he did.

M-21 held his hand out and Tao dropped the tie into it.

He wasn't good with words, not unless they were an insult, intended to needle and throw off balance; casual conversation didn't come easily to him, not like it did with Frankenstein or Tao, so he didn't bother trying to describe what he was doing.

The silk was cool against his skin as he draped the tie over his shoulders. Takeo and Tao's eyes were fixated on his fingers when he started, remembering what to do.

Tao's head didn't stop moving, going back and forth, left and right, apparently trying to see everything at all angles at the same time. Takeo was the opposite, his eyebrows drawn in, his lips pursed.

Once the head of the knot rested on his collarbone, M-21 said, "Do you want me to do it again?" Going by Tao's actions, they might not have seen everything perfectly.

Takeo and Tao didn't say anything for a second, their eyes wider and staring at him. ...Had he looked like that when Frankenstein offered the same thing?

"Sure!" Tao chirped, nodding, and M-21 pulled the tie free of its knot and started again, turning so that his hands weren't as in the way as before.

The minute crease between Takeo's eyebrows eased and the other man nodded.

"Heh, I think I can do that," Tao said.

"Good," M-21 said, loosening the tie and slipping it off over his head in case they wanted to study how it went on. He hesitated when he held the tie out for Tao.

"The collar presses right against your throat," he warned them. "They don't mind if you don't wear it up."

"Aah, gotcha," Tao said, taking the tie and turning it over, inspecting from all sides, tugging at the knot but not undoing it.

Then Tao flipped the tie over a shoulder, grinning right at M-21. "Okay, so now that that's been settled – where are the good clothes shops?"

…What?

M-21 wasn't sure how to interpret the look in Tao's eyes, but Tao kept going. "Well, we're going to need clothes," Tao said, waving towards himself and Takeo. "We'll get money for them later." His lips twitched in amusement.

"I'll pay for it," M-21 said with a half-shrug, thinking of a route they could take. "You can pay me back later."

The surprised looks flashing across Takeo and Tao's faces made him pause from his planning.

"No, it's all right," Takeo said, shaking his head. "We don't mind waiting while Tao sets things up."

That… "Hadn't Frankenstein told you…?" he asked, looking between them.

Their blank faces told him 'No'.

M-21 sighed. Frankenstein was a genius, but there were times when he assumed other people would know something from what seemed like telepathy.

"You get paid for working at the school."

Tao's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping. "We get a _salary_?"

"Yeah."

M-21 wasn't prepared for Tao's burst of laughter, his expression filled with utter glee.

"All riiiight!" Tao crowed, punching the air. "That means I get to make a _list_!"

They didn't even know how much they were getting paid… But then, with how much Frankenstein paid _him_, no matter what Tao wanted to get, there would still be money left over.

With a whoop, Tao span around, catching the tie from flying off his shoulder at the last second and ran off. "I'll just be a minute – don't you leave without me!"

Neither M-21 or Takeo said anything to that, but Tao didn't take it as lack of acknowledgement and kept going.

"He really is normally like that." M-21 had thought Tao had just been relieved at being alive.

The corner of Takeo's lips curved. "Only when he feels relatively safe." The smile dimmed. "I didn't see it that often."

That, M-21 could understand.

Tao bounced back to them, the tie gone and his phone out as he tapped something into it. "I could also get – no, _that_," he muttered, his focus on the screen.

Takeo started walking and Tao fell in step behind him like a duckling, not looking up, continuing his litany under his breath.

When M-21 didn't move, Takeo gestured for him to follow. "He won't bump into anything," he assured him.

Huh. But…he would trust Takeo's word (he knew Tao better, after all) and nodded. "The better shops are a little further from here," M-21 said. "But it won't take us long to get there." Especially if they took to the rooftops.

Takeo smiled. "Lead the way."

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><p>So I realised something after testing out a cosplay, haha.<p>

I couldn't figure out the reason of him taking his tie off for a second time, so I skipped it.

But yeah, I figured Tao and Takeo did that a lot, Takeo guiding Tao around, watching his back while Tao was giving directions and planning stuff out for the DA-5.


End file.
